Credit status does little to ease car buyers’ affordability concerns, with a recent study by FlexPath DXP revealing that shoppers with good credit are just as payment-conscious as those with lower credit scores.
The details: The consumer data company’s Automotive Shopper Credit & Payment Behavior Study found that prime and super-prime buyers were nearly as likely as subprime shoppers to use its credit-first shopping tool, Shop-By-Payment (SBP).
Nearly 8 in 10 prime and super-prime shoppers used Shop-By-Payment to shop by monthly budget, about as often as subprime shoppers (78% vs. 80%).
Prime and super-prime shoppers were nearly 1.5 times as likely to prequalify for a specific vehicle (44% vs. 30%).
Roughly 81% of their single-vehicle prequalifications began on search-results or vehicle-detail pages, compared with 7.5% on finance pages.
After prequalifying for a specific vehicle, 81.5% of prime and super-prime shoppers went on to use Shop-By-Payment, compared with 76% of subprime shoppers.
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Why it matters: The findings suggest monthly payments are a priority for shoppers across credit tiers, giving dealers an opportunity to improve online engagement by integrating payment options earlier in the vehicle-shopping process rather than limiting financing discussions to dedicated finance pages.
Between the lines: The study by the consumer data company FlexPath—which offers three dealership shopping experiences, including General Prequalification (GPQ), Single-Vehicle Prequalification (SVP) and Shop-By-Payment (SBP)—underscores the value of more robust digital shopping tools for consumers.
Of the 17,218 verified shoppers who engaged with FlexPath experiences at dealerships offering all three options, 89.5% used payment-shopping tools rather than relying solely on general prequalification.
Only 10.5% used prequalification alone, with "What vehicles fit my monthly budget?" being the most common of three shopping intents, among nearly 80% of shoppers from subprime through prime credit tiers.
The other two intents were “Can I qualify?” and “Can I qualify for this vehicle?,” with the former cited by about half of subprime shoppers and 42% of prime and super-prime shoppers.
What they’re saying: “Prime shoppers aren’t just asking, ‘Can I get approved?’,” said Tarry Shebesta, CEO of FlexPath DXP, per a press statement. “They’re asking what a specific vehicle will cost them each month. And once they see that payment, many want to know what else their budget can buy.”
Bottom line: The FlexPath findings suggest that monthly affordability is becoming a central factor in vehicle shopping regardless of creditworthiness, reinforcing the need for dealers to make payment transparency a core part of their digital retailing strategies to remain competitive.
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